Securities firms that invested 220-billion-yuan with state-backed China Securities Finance Corp. (CSF) to buy shares at the behest of the regulator to prop up the country’s plunging stock market last year suffered a 12-percent loss as of April, executives from two firms involved in the deal said.

An investor watches stock data on an electronic board at a securities brokerage house in Beijing during last summer’s stock rout.

The investments were part of a massive government-backed bailout of the A-share market, which went into a tailspin last summer, resulting in the worst crash in more than seven years. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SCI) dipped from 5,178 points on June 12 to less than 3,000 points in just over two months. The rescue operations, coordinated by CSF plowed a total of at least 2 trillion yuan into the stock market to stabilize it from July to August.

China Securities Regulatory Commission told 50 securities firms to help fund the bailout by signing contracts that allowed CSF to buy stocks from the secondary market on their behalf. On July 4, 21 securities firms announced they would contribute 120 billion yuan to the operation. Another 100 billion yuan was added on August 29, when the regulator pressed for more funds from 50 securities firms, including the ones that had already made pledges.

“As of the end of March, the net value of our invested assets declined by about 12 percent compared with their value at the beginning,” an executive of a securities firm involved in the operation said. An executive from another firm linked to the deal confirmed the combined loss was roughly 12 percent. Read more